


Waffles

by takeitoffhemmo



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Bottom Michael, Drunken Flirting, Drunkenness, Fluffy, M/M, Muke - Freeform, Muke af, Top Luke, author!Luke, gonna get angsty, honestly Luke's a mess in this, michael just wants to be loved, smut in last chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-05-21 08:48:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6045411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takeitoffhemmo/pseuds/takeitoffhemmo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Let's get drunk and eat waffles."</p><p>Or </p><p>Where Luke's boyfriend dumps him and Michael picks up the pieces.</p><p>(Also found on my Wattpad @mukesmelodies)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Break ups and waffles

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to edit this story that I had posted on Wattpad awhile ago and now post it here. Hope you guys enjoy!

You know it's a bad day when your _gay_ boyfriend of four years leaves you for a _girl_. It's an even worse day when he dumps you at a Starbucks. Who does that?

Luke hates admitting that he cried after the break up and maybe he still is as he stares at his full cup of now cold coffee. He wishes he had at least caught his boyfriend cheating so he could've had the satisfaction of dumping his lying ass. He can't believe he didn't see this coming. Corban always pointed out girls and Luke thought he was being funny. Guess not. Corban always assured Luke that he was, in fact, gay. Luke supposes that's not true either. He can't believe he ever loved him.

He wipes away the last of his tears and begins gathering his things to leave. He's been sitting at this stupid Starbucks for two hours. He needs to get over himself already. Corban never loved him. It's time to move on.

When he told himself it was time to move on he didn't expect a handsome man in his twenties with fire engine red hair, porcelain skin, and sea green eyes to sit across from him. He looks like Luke's perfect opportunity for moving on. Maybe a one night stand could help.  
"May I sit here?" he asks gesturing to the chair across from Luke.

 _Yes please, you beautiful man,_ Luke thinks to himself, but aloud says, "Uh, sure." _Wow Luke. So impressive._

The man smiles and sits in the chair, "Why were you crying?"

Luke wasn't expecting him to ask that and suddenly he wants to cry again. Why is he crying so much? Corban was shit to him in the end. He shouldn't be this sad.  
Why should it matter he was Luke's first love? That he thought he was finally going to ask him to move in? Honestly, he should've known they weren't going to last when Corban kept refusing to get a place together. He'd let Luke sleepover all the time but he never truly moved in. None of that matters anymore. He cheated. Luke hates him.

Luke realizes there's an awkward silence as he doesn't answer this super hot guy sitting across from him and almost decides _not to_ answer him and to leave but his eyes make Luke stay. He seems so genuine. How can Luke not tell him? It doesn't matter that none of this is his business. Luke suddenly wants it to be his business.

"My boyfriend of four totally wasted years of my life dumped me for a _girl_ ," he answers and looks down at his cold coffee.

"He's a jerk. I'll punch him. Where is he?" the man says. Oh shit. Luke doesn't know his name. Who is this guy?

"What's your name?" Luke asks looking up into his eyes.

"Michael Clifford," he replies with a smile as bright as the sun.

"Hi Michael, I'm Luke Hemmings." Luke smiles back at him. He's gorgeous.

"Well Luke," _I love how he says my name_ , "It looks like you need a good drink."

He scoffs. "Tell me about it."

Michael's smile grows larger if that's even possible when he says, "Let's get drunk and eat waffles."

Luke raises his eyebrows. "Are you serious?"

He nods, "Yeah, it's a great break up remedy."

The look on Michael's face is 100% serious. He wants to get drinks with Luke and then eat waffles afterwards. Luke knows he said he was up for a one night stand to get over Corban, but is he really? Is he really ready to start looking at other guys? Is he going to want more with Michael? Michael's so nice that Luke thinks he'd feel bad using him to get over his ex. Besides, Corban's sort of screwed with Luke's perception of love. He's not sure if he even believes in it anymore. But Michael's not asking for love right now, is he? He's asking to get drunk and eat waffles. Getting drunk doesn't sound like too bad of an idea.

Finally, Luke nods his head. "Okay. Let's get drunk and eat waffles."

Luke learns that Michael had walked to the Starbucks so they take Luke's car to the nearest bar. Michael softly sings along to the songs on the radio and Luke decides 1) Michael can serenade him any time and 2) he has the voice of an angel. Hell, maybe he is an angel. Luke's angel.

They arrive at the bar after Luke had to circle the block five times to find a parking space. When they enter the bar the music is loud and the room is full of people too close together. Luke crinkles his nose at the strong stench of sweat and beer. He's only been to a proper bar a few times since he turned 21 last month. Before that he barely drank in high school. What can he say? Beer really isn't his thing.

Michael drags them to the only empty table in the bar and sits across from Luke. A waitress comes by and he orders for us. Normally Luke would be mad if a guy did this but with Michael he can't seem to find it in himself. Maybe he's just worn out from earlier still. He's not bouncing back very fast. He actually doesn't remember life before Corban. What do single people do?

After they get their drinks Luke leans across the table so he doesn't have to shout and ask, "Michael, what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a gay porn-star," Michael answers with a straight face.

That would explain his undeniable beauty.

"Would it be weird if I watched your videos?" Luke asks, raising his eyebrows.

Michael starts laughing and Luke decides he loves Michael's laugh.

"Oh my god. Luke, I'm not a porn-star. Have you seen me? No, I am most definitely not a porn-star. I'm actually a musician."

"As interesting as being a musician is, I think you're more cut out to be a porn-star," Luke says hoping he gets the hint that he thinks Michael's beautiful.

Luke doesn't think Michael agrees when he rolls his eyes and asks, "Luke, what do you do?"

"I'd love to do you but for now I'm a writer," he answers with a smirk.

Michael's cheeks flush red, matching his hair. He quickly recovers though and returns Luke's smirk, "I'd love to do you too, Hemmings."

"Is this going to turn into a one night stand thing? I honestly thought we were only getting drunk and eating waffles," Luke jokes.

Michael doesn't notice the lighthearted tone of Luke's voice as his smile falters and he says, "I don't really like one night stands." Luke decides he doesn't like one night stands either.

"Good. Now let's get smashed."

Too many drinks to count later Luke finds himself watching his current drink tip over and the liquid spread over the table and drip off the side.

"Dammit," he mutters and watches the brown substance fall helplessly to the ground, slowly drying on the table.

Michael tries to contain a laugh as he finds napkins to clean up the mess. He's a lot more sober than Luke. Luke thinks Michael drank less but he also strikes Luke as the kind of guy who holds his alcohol well. Luke, on the other hand, gets buzzed easily from being lightweight and not used to drinking. Luke thinks this is the third time he's ever gotten drunk in his whole life. He doesn't enjoy hangovers or altering his mind. He likes being in control. When he's drunk he's not in control as shown by his inability to hold a glass.

As Luke's thinking all of this he focuses back on Michael cleaning up _his_ mess. Michael shouldn't be doing this. Luke should be so he grabs some napkins and tries to help. Unfortunately, he's honestly too drunk for this because he keeps making the mess worse. Michael notices and grabs Luke's wrist to stop his movements.

"Babe, I've got this," he says.

As the word "babe" falls from his lips, Luke's hands fall to his lap. Michael called him babe. Maybe it was in a friendly way. Maybe not. Either way it gave him butterflies. Manly butterflies.

When Michael finishes cleaning up he grabs Luke's hand to help him off the stool. When Luke stumbles and struggles to stand on his own Michael wraps an arm around his waist to support him. Luke leans into his side. He's warm and smells good like cinnamon. Although he's a little shorter than Luke he finds a way to bury his face in Michael's neck once they're outside in the cooler air.

It's not long before Luke's leaving sloppy kisses on Michael's neck. He's a horny drunk. Something he discovered on his birthday when he tried to have sex with his best friend Calum. Needless to say Calum's been weary of drinking with Luke ever since. Michael doesn't push Luke away as he kisses his neck so he takes it as a good sign and begins to move his lips to find Michael's. Luke's surprised when Michael pushes him back just as their lips are about to meet.

He shakes his head muttering a "Not now, Luke," and Luke averts his eyes to the buildings across the street. Why are they standing outside? Luke turns to ask Michael but then a cab pulls up and he realizes it must be for them. Luke's thoughts are confirmed when Michael opens the back door for him. Luke slides into the seat and presses his body against the window. Luke's not happy with Michael right now.

A few minutes later they arrive at a waffle house. Michael pays the driver and slides out with Luke following behind. Luke intertwines their hands and then pulls Michael to the entrance. The restaurant is empty and brightly lit with 80's music playing quietly in the background. A waitress greets the pair and tells them to sit wherever they'd like and she'll bring their menus and water. Luke drags Michael to a dimly lit booth in the back. The lights are bothering him and he wants be close to Michael.

Michael doesn't protest as he's pulled onto the bench beside Luke. Luke leans against him because he enjoys being near him. Maybe he likes him. Maybe not. He doesn't really know. He's not sure if he's ready to like anyone yet but Michael's making it hard.

The waitress returns with the menus and water then says that she'll give them a few minutes before returning to take their order. They smile and thank her. Luke downs his glass of water and then peers at the menu. The second his eyes see chocolate waffles with chocolate chips and chocolate syrup he knows that's what he's getting. Luke's a slut for chocolate.

"I forgot to ask this earlier, but what do you write?" Michael asks while still studying his menu.

"I mostly write about love but sometimes it's just whatever I'm feeling. I do a mix between novels and poems," Luke replies.

"Did you ever write about your ex?"

Yeah, Luke did but he's not telling Michael. "Nope."

"Will you write about me?"

Luke smiles. "Maybe."

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"

"Sure."

"Have you ever experienced it?"

"Not yet. Why the interrogation?" Luke lightly laughs. It's starting to make him uncomfortable answering all these questions about love. He used to love love. He used to be deeply in love. Now, he doesn't know what love is.

"Just curious. Do your stories have happy endings?"

"Of course they do. The romance genre requires it."

"I don't really believe in the whole happily ever after thing."

Luke shrugs, "It's nice to dream about."

"Don't you want it to be a reality?"

"I thought I'd have it with Corban but I guess not. Now I don't know how I feel. What are you ordering?" Luke asks to change the topic.

Michael sighs. "The chocolate waffles."

Luke grins at him, "Dude, me too."

The waitress comes back and takes our order. She also refills Luke's water glass and leaves the pitcher for the two men.

"At the bar you called me babe," Luke suddenly blurts. _Why did you say that? Luke, you're stupid._

Michael glances at me, "Did I? It must've been a slip of the tongue."

"Michael, what are we doing?" Luke finally asks. The question's been bothering him ever since he denied the kiss.

Michael turns to Luke and rubs his hand down his face. He puffs out a breath of air and then speaks. "I don't really know. I kind of like you maybe but I feel like I'm taking advantage of you since you just got out of a relationship. You're also sending me mixed signals trying to kiss me and all."

Luke thinks about his words. He guesses the almost kiss confused both of them. Luke's generally a really confused person though. He doesn't know if it's the same for Michael. He feels bad that Michael thinks he's taking advantage of him when he originally planned to take advantage of him. This is a mess.

"What do we do?" Luke finally questions.

"Maybe go on a date with me," Michael offers.

"Don't you mean another date?" Luke says, grinning.

He laughs, "Yes, _another_ date."

Luke opens his mouth to say something else but then the waitress brings their food and the thought is lost as he devours the stack of waffles in front of him.


	2. Confused

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke is confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took a awhile to get ready, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> (also sorry if all pronouns don't match, I've been editing from 1st to 3rd person POV)

Michael asked Luke to go back to his place after they finished their waffles but he politely declined. Luke knew Calum would be worrying about him; He hadn't said anything to him since he had left for Starbucks this morning, so after Michael and Luke had said their goodbyes Luke called Calum. 

"Where have you been? Are you with Corban?" Calum answers on the third ring. 

Luke refrains from flinching when he hears _his_ name, but then answers Calum. "Funny story...Corban dumped me for a girl, I guess he's bi or something, and I've been hanging out with a total hottie I met at Starbucks. I'm a little drunk right now. Can you come get me?" 

"I want a longer story after I pick you up. Where are you?" 

Luke looks around to figure out what street he's on and then tells Calum the address. 

"I'll be there in 15. Stay put." 

Luke sighs and sits on the curb. Maybe he should've taken Michael's offer and went to his place. They did exchange numbers though so they could arrange a second date. Luke kind of already misses Michael's voice and that scares him. He doesn't want a new relationship and he doesn't want to try love again. Love and Luke are done with. He's going to have to tell Michael they can't be more than friends. He ignores the twinge in his heart that accompanies that thought. 

After making his decision about Michael, Luke sits in the cool late summer air and waits for Calum to arrive. It's only a few minutes later when his blue Neon pulls up to the curb. Luke stands up (waivers) and climbs (ungracefully) into the passenger seat. Calum gives Luke a look like "we'll talk when we get home" and Luke gives him a tired nod. He's ready for the night to end. 

At their apartment Luke sits on the couch and waits for Calum's interrogation. He gets water from the fridge for Luke and then sits next to him. 

"Corban broke up with you," he says and the words hang in the air. They taunt Luke and tell him it's the truth. Corban never loved him. 

Luke slowly nods his head. "He cheated." 

"I never liked him," Calum confesses. 

Luke wants to curl up and die. He can feel tears threatening to spill over again. Calum notices and pulls him into his chest. Luke lets the tears fall and soak Calum's shirt. 

"Why wa-wasn't I e-enough?" Luke chokes out. 

"Oh baby. You were perfect. He messed up and he's the jerk. He's blind if he couldn't see how wonderful you are, Lukey," Calum says while rubbing circles on my back. Luke begins to feel himself cool down and his tears stop. Luke focuses on Calum's hand and the quiet words he's whispering to him. 

"Shh, you're going to be okay," he whispers and Luke believes him. He wipes his tears and pulls away. 

Calum offers a smile and then asks, "So who's the hottie you mentioned?" 

Luke blushes. "Uh, a guy named Michael. He has bright red hair and really pretty green eyes. They're a sort of pale green. They strangely remind me of the sea green Crayola crayon. He has the best laugh and he can sing. Calum! He's amazing at it. He took me out to get drunk and eat waffles. I thought it was the strangest request but then it worked! I forgot about Corban. It was all _MichaelMichaelMichael_. Calum, he's gorgeous but he doesn't see it. He's also funny. He joked about about being a porn-star although I think he could be one. He's a total dream." 

"Luke you sound like you're in love," Calum says cautiously. 

Luke quickly and vigorously shakes his head. "No, no, no. I can't be in love ever again. Not after Corban. He ruined me." 

"What about your novels?" 

"I'll start writing horror or science fiction." 

"You're going to lose readers." 

"I don't care. I'm done with love." 

Just then Luke's phone rings and it's Michael. _Oh, shit_ , Luke thinks before he answers the phone. He can hear his heart pounding in his ears. 

"Hi Michael," Luke answers. 

"Hey Luke! Did you get home, okay? I was worrying like crazy so I just had to call. Uh, so are you okay?" Michael rambles. Awh, he's adorable. 

"Yeah, I'm good. I got home just fine, anything else?" Luke replies. 

"Uh, maybe. I was wondering if tomorrow worked for our second date? I have the day off and the weather's supposed to be nice. I was thinking we could do a picnic thing? We can do whatever you want though. I just like spending time with you." 

Luke begins to feel nervous. Does he tell Michael he's not ready? Does he be honest or go on the date? He doesn't know what to do and shoots Calum a desperate look. Calum only shrugs and Luke rolls his eyes. Shit. 

"Uh, I need to check my schedule," he answers hoping his voice doesn't give away the lie. 

"Are you okay? If you don't want to go on the date you can tell me, Luke. I'm willing to wait for you." 

"Don't you feel like we're moving too fast?" Luke blurts out. Ugh, Luke. You're so dumb. 

"Not really. We don't get to chose when love happens to us. I thought you were the love guru around here anyway. Shouldn't you be telling me this?" he chuckles. 

"I'm confused. I need a few days," Luke finally says. 

"Call me when you figure it out." Michael hangs up. 

Luke stares at the blank phone screen. What is he doing? He turns to look at Calum but he only shakes his head and walks away to his room. Luke knows he's going to start thinking too much. The walls are pressing in around him. His thoughts are ready to choke him. He needs a pen and paper. He needs to write before he goes crazy and floats away. 

_Love was something I tried.  
I once dreamed all day about love.   
I was in love with love. _

_I was in love with a boy.  
I thought he loved me too.   
In the end it was all lies.   
How could he ever have loved me? _

_Love isn't something I love anymore.  
Love is evil.  
It consumes you and blinds you.   
Love destroys all hope. _

_Love was something I tried.  
I once dreamed all day about love.   
I was in love with love._

_But_

_Love wasn't in love with me._

_-lrh_

Luke takes a shaky breath as his pen signs his name. He stares at the poem and feels a sense of closure but also sadness. He never imagined he would write something so dark. Luke isn't sure who he is anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *invisible starts playing*


	3. Michael

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael tries to figure out his feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is kinda a mess and I take forever to update aidnwkandjsns

Michael falls in love too easily. He can't help himself. He finds beauty in everything he sees and he falls in love with it. Luke is a beautiful creature who's hurting right now. Michael wishes he'd let him in. Michael wants to make him happy. Seeing his smile yesterday gave him the best feeling; Luke's adorable. He's all long arms and legs and Michael loves it. He could get lost in his eyes and listen to his laugh all day. Luke is truly a beautiful creature who Michael'd like to know better. Luke said he writes so maybe he'll look up his books. 

Michael turns on his laptop and types 'Luke Hemmings author' into the Google search bar. Three books show up in the results: Love is Beautiful, Smile: You're in Love, and Stay. Michael clicks on Love is Beautiful and reads the description. It's about a boy discovering what love is and slowly falling for another boy at school. There's a preview of the first chapter so Michael decides to read it. 

_I always knew I was gay. At least as long as I can remember I've known. I've known since year 4 when Jimmy kissed me as a joke. I liked it when Jimmy kissed me. I didn't understand that it wasn't accepted by most people for boys to like other boys. I was openly gay and my parents loved me. The kids in my grade accepted me until year 9 when we began to understand the world. Only a few people stood by me. I was okay with it. I loved myself and I loved the idea of love._

_Love was always something I was curious about. I constantly asked my parents about the subject, and they always answered my questions to the best of their ability with a smile on their faces. They were in love and I wanted it. I've been obsessed with love for as long as I can remember. I started writing about it because I was scared no one would ever love me how my parents loved each other. I read romance novels up to my nose and everyone knew me as the hopeless romantic I was._

_On a sunny day towards the end of year 11 my hopes for finding love was finally looking up. Tony, a handsome guy on the debate team in year 12, asked me to hang out. How could I deny him? Most people avoided me like the plague but not Tony. He wanted to hang out which meant he wasn't scared of me. We ended up playing video games at his house and ordering pizza. Tony treated me like a human and I liked that. He was nice to me and we began to hang out a lot. Soon our hang outs turned into dates and then one day when we were getting ice cream at the boardwalk, Tony kissed me. He told me how beautiful he thought I was and asked me to be his boyfriend. I accepted. I just didn't realize how crazy our journey would be._

He clicks for the next page but gets a message the preview is over. Michael groans and checks his phone. Four messages from Ashton, his producer. 

Ash: where r u  
Ash: r we still recording?   
Ash: mike?  
Ash: im coming to ur place

Oh shit. He totally forgot he was supposed to go in for recording today. He checks the time stamp of Ashton's last message and realizes he should be here any second now. He curses himself for still being in the boxers and t-shirt that he slept in. Michael hurries to his closet to pull on a pair of jeans and switches out his shirt. He scrambles to the bathroom and desperately tries to fix his hair. It never looks good to him. When he hears the knock at his door and he groans and shouts, "Coming!" 

He walks to the door while trying to put shoes on. Ash is going to be so pissed. Michael always forgets to come in when they schedule recording days. He knew there must've been a reason he had set an alarm for today. He swings the door open with a smile. "Ash! What a pleasant surprise!" 

He grunts. "Mike, how do you always forget?" 

Michael rubs the back of his neck. "Honestly? I have no idea." 

Ashton just shakes his head. "Whatever, dude. You're lucky I like you. Get your crap and let's go." 

Michael nods his head and then grabs his keys and wallet. He locks the door behind himself and follows Ash out to his car. His studio actually isn't that faraway and Michael normally walks the few blocks. Sometimes Michael gets nervous when he drives so he prefers walking. They drive past the Starbucks Michael met Luke at and his heart aches. He really likes that kid. 

They arrive at the studio and climb up the stairs to the fifth floor where Ashton's booth is. The building is a place for artists to rent out space for their work and Ash got the fifth floor. His studio has brick walls with band posters taped up. There's a few couches and chairs and then in the back is where he records vocals and instruments. He has a complete sound board and top of the line recording microphones. He's also independently owned, obviously, which means he oversees everything that happens and Michael can 100% trust him. He's also been Michael's friend since forever so there is that. 

He drops his bag by the door and kicks off his shoes. Michael does the same and then follows him to one of the couches. 

"So I need some more vocals for Rejects and then we can work on those new songs you just wrote, sound cool?" 

Michael nods his head. "Yeah. Definitely." 

Michael gets inside the recording booth and places the headphones on his head. He looks at Ash and waits for his instruction. 

"Okay, Mike, I thought it'd be cool if you harmonized with yourself at the chorus so I need you to sing the chorus an octave higher." 

Michael nods and Ash gives him a thumbs up to start singing. Michael sings through the chorus, an octave higher than usual, three times before Ash says he has enough. 

"What song do you wanna do now?" he asks. 

"Wrapped Around Your Finger," Michael replies. It's one of his favorites right now. They already laid down the instrument track for it a few weeks ago so Ash begins the track and Michael sings. They probably go through the song a hundred times before Ash is finally satisfied with the amount of audio he has. Michael is completely exhausted. Sometimes he forgets how much recording takes out of a person. 

"Good job. We can call it a night," he says. 

Michael takes the headphones off and meets Ash in the area with the couches. 

"Are you hungry?" he asks. 

Michael opens his mouth to say that he's not when his stomach growls. "I guess I am, yeah." 

"Let's get something to eat and you can tell me who you met yesterday." 

How does he know he met someone yesterday? Michael wants to ask him but he's already putting his shoes on and ready to leave. He decides to ask him at dinner. 

They don't go anywhere special, just to the Macca's down the road. After they have their food and sit at one of the tables in the back Ashton says, "Michael, you've been glowing all day. Did you get laid?" 

"Wh-what?" he sputters and almost spits his drink out. 

Ashton rolls his eyes, "Come on, give me something. There's gotta be a reason you're so happy." 

Michael coughs. "Uh, I did meet a guy but I think he only wants to be friends. We met right after he got dumped so I took him out for drinks and waffles to make him feel better, you know? He's super adorable, and he tried to kiss me but I stopped him because I was scared he was using me to get over his ex. I think he's the most beautiful human I've ever met. He's a novelist and writes about love. He used to love love and now he's hurt. He doesn't know what love is anymore. This morning I was reading one of his books and it was about discovering love and I don't know, maybe Luke just needs to read his book. He used to know himself. I hate whoever broke his heart. Luke didn't deserve that, no one does. I want to make Luke happy but he's pushing me away already." 

"And you guys just met yesterday?" he asks and Michael nods. "Michael, that's some pretty intense stuff for just meeting a guy. How can you possibly already feel so much for him?" 

"If I knew, I'd tell you," Michael replies with a sigh. 

"I think you should give him some space. If he's only looking for friendship then be his friend and maybe he'll come around and want more later. If he's as hurt as you say then he needs time to heal. If he wants you're help then he'll ask. Be patient, Michael." 

"Thanks, mate," Michael says and attempts to smile. _Oh Luke, what have you done to me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try to update faster for the last two chapters. 
> 
> I always love hearing comments and feedback. You could also come talk to me about Muke in general on tumblr :) lukesgoggles.tumblr.com


	4. Let Me Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and Michael try to figure themselves out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took so long to update!!!

"Hi Luke, heard about your break up, real sorry about that it makes saying this even harder. I know you hate the publisher deadlines but there's nothing I can do about it. We need your next book by September 16th or we have to drop you. Hope to speak with you soon. Happy writing!" 

Luke groans and stares at his blank word document. How is he going to write a book in a month? He has nothing to write about. It's supposed to be romance but it's not like he believes in that anymore. He had half a book about Corban done but he can't finish that with how they ended. He'd have to lie and make up a new ending. He could write about Michael...he quickly shakes the thought from his head and opens his document about Corban. There has to be a way to work around the happily ever after. Can't the main character walk off into the sunset alone with the knowledge that they love their self? Isn't that a happy ending? As much as Luke wants to convince himself that such an ending could work he knows Frank will send his book back and give him a week to rewrite the ending so the characters get married or some happy shit like that. 

Why did Corban have to go and fall in love with some girl? This is all his fault. If he could've stayed faithful to Luke for another month he wouldn't be sitting here wondering if his career as an author is over. He's going to have to start relaying on his poems since poets are allowed to be tragic, tortured souls. 

"Ugh!" Luke screams in frustration and pushes away from the desk. He cannot be doing this right now. He needs to go out and get some fresh air. He needs a distraction. 

Luke picks up his phone and scrolls through his contacts. He pauses at Michael's name and thinks. It's been a week since they last talked and he technically still hasn't figured out what the fuck he wants in life but Michael's so nice to him. He knows that Michael will figure out the best way to help Luke clear his head so Luke sends him a quick text. 

Me: hey mike wanna hang out

And he replies shortly after. 

Mikey: sure, where?  
Me: anywhere but my place  
Mikey: my place?  
Me: sure  
Mikey: here's my address: 5374 Thames Street Apt. 18  
Me: be there soon 

Luke hops around his room trying to find clothes and shoes. He tumbles into the bathroom and almost screams at the condition of his hair. He grabs the nearest bottle of gel and quickly quiffs his hair. Then he brushes his teeth and puts on more deodorant. 

Now that Luke deems himself presentable he grabs his keys and rushes out the door mumbling something to Calum about how he'll see him later. Luke jumps in his car and drives to Michael's place. Michael lives in a fairly nice part of town and you can tell he's an artist because he lives in one of the new modern flats for upcoming artists. Calum and Luke had looked into renting one but decided Luke's noveling career couldn't support the monthly rent. Luke parks in the small parking lot out front and then walks in. He re-reads the text from Michael to confirm which flat is his and then ascends the stairs to find it. Luke walks down the long hallways reading numbers until finally he finds Apt. 18. Luke takes a deep breath and then knocks on the red door. 

Michael swings the door open and smiles. "Hi Luke, come in." 

"Hey Michael. Thank you so much for agreeing to hang out. I know I've been crazy annoying and super difficult, but I want you to know I really appreciate you, you know? You're like the nicest most beautiful person I know and I'm sorry I'm a confused person. Honestly, I try not to be but it sort of just happens and why are you staring at me?" 

"Because you're beautiful and I really want to kiss you," he replies. 

Luke's breath hitches and he blushes. Michael thinks he's beautiful and he wants to kiss him. Now Luke's staring at Michael and can finally take in his appearance. His red hair is spiked in random places and he has some stubble. His lips look red and inviting. Luke's eyes move up to meet his and they're begging for permission. 

"Fuck it," he breathes and takes a step forward to crash their lips together. 

The kiss is feverish and full of lust and desire. They're both clinging to each other as if they'll disappear if they let go. Luke pushes Michael back until he hits the wall and then he moves his lips to Michael's neck. Their breathing has turned to heavy panting and Michael throws his head back against the wall. Desire takes over Luke as he presses his hands deeper into Michael's hips and slowly grinds against him. 

"Lu-Luke, shit, we shouldn't do this," he manages to say. 

Luke stops kissing Michael's neck but doesn't move away. "What should we do?" he asks, moving one of his arms up to the wall beside Michael's head, effectively blocking him in. 

"I don't know, date? Get to know each other a little bit? I know you're confused and I don't want to rush you into things. I want to teach you about love again. Luke, let me love you," he whispers the last bit, his voice sincere and almost pleading. 

Luke leans in and slowly kisses his lips. "Okay, I'll try to let you love me." 

They spend the rest of the day cuddled up on Mikey's couch watching or rather role playing movies and playing video games. Michael beat Luke every time they played so he made them watch movies instead. At first they were going to watch a comedy but then Luke suggested they watch Twilight with the sound off and make up our own dialogue. Michael quickly realized how much fun that'd be and that's how they ended up dramatically acting out Twilight in Michael's living room. 

"Oh Edward, love me!" Michael giggled. 

"Bella, it's too dangerous," Luke replies trying to hold back his own laugh. 

Michael leans in close to him. "But Edward you're so alluring. I can't help but be attracted to you." 

Luke inhales Michael's wonderful cinnamon scent before placing a hand on his shoulder to hold him back. "Bella, you know what I am and you know why we can't be together. Go home before you get hurt." 

Michael pouts and then Luke has to break scene. Michael looks so adorable and Luke wants to kiss him. Luke leans in to steal a kiss. Michael scowls at him but then smiles and kisses him back. 

"Do you wanna go out to eat?" he asks. 

"Are you asking me on a date?" 

"Whatever you wanna call it. I'm hungry." 

"I'm quite hungry myself. Let's go out. On a date," Luke says with a smile. 

"Okay, princess. Where do you wanna go?" 

Luke can't stop his cheeks from flushing with color when Michael called him "princess." 

"Uh, surprise me?" Luke answers, unsure of himself. 

Michael grins and then grabs Luke's hand. "Okay then let's go." 

They actually take Michael's car and he drives. Luke was wondering if he even had a car or could drive since it seemed like he walked or took a taxi everywhere. Michael doesn't say anything when Luke intertwines their fingers on the console. Luke can tell it calms him. Maybe he doesn't like driving. He has a Green Day cd in and they both singalong to the songs as Michael drives them out of the city. When they stop at red lights he always glances over at Luke with a smile and Luke always smiles back with a small squeeze of their hands. 

After about an hour, they arrive at a small diner in the middle of nowhere. Luke looks at Michael with his eyebrows raised. 

"Trust me, you'll love it," he says and they hop out of the car. As they walk in, Michael links their hands together. 

They walk in and the hostess greets them with a huge smile. 

"Michael, baby! You made the drive out! It's so nice to see you, and who is this cutie?" 

"Uh, I'm Luke," Luke answers, assuming she's referring to him. 

"Hello Luke, I'm Ruby. I'm practically Michael's second mom and I got to say it's relieving to see Michael dating again. I mean, you two are here on a date, yeah?" 

"Yeah, we are," Luke says with a smile. 

"Oh that's wonderful! Let's get you two seated. I'm to have Joe make you two gentlemen the special for today. I hope that's alright. I promise it's amazing. Luke, are you allergic to anything?" 

Luke shakes his head. "At least as far as I know, I'm not allergic to anything."

"That's great, Luke," she says and leads them to a booth. When Michael doesn't immediately slide onto the same bench as Luke he earns a glare from Ruby but then sits next to Luke anyway. He even kisses Luke's cheek for good measure. Ruby seems satisfied with the action and then walks off to a different part of the diner. 

"I read a little bit of one of your books," Michael says. 

Luke raises his eyebrows. "Oh? Which one?" 

"I think it was from the beginning of _Love is Beautiful_." 

Luke scrunches up his face. He never really liked that book. It's naive and childish, plus his organization was all over the place. "What did you think of it?" he asks. 

"Well, I know in the description it says it's about Ezra discovering love but I think it's about you," Michael replies with a glance at Luke. 

"Every author writes from experience. It's almost impossible to one hundred percent create a whole alternate universe with experiences that we've never encountered. So yeah, I guess Ezra might be inspired by me," Luke answers with a shrug. 

Michael hums in thought. "So is Tony inspired by Corban?" 

Luke nods with a sigh. There's no point in lying. Luke was young and in love when he wrote the novel. He thought Corban was his everything so he wrote about him all the time. He's in all of Luke's work. There's traces of him everywhere. 

"I don't wanna talk about Corban. I wanna talk about you. What's your favorite color and deepest desire? Do you have any weird kinks or fetishes?" 

Michael chuckles. "That's a lot of questions. Hmm. My favorite color is purple. My deepest desire is you," he smirks, "I don't think I have any necessarily weird kinks but I do like being dominated and I definitely don't have any weird fetishes. What about you?" 

"My favorite color is red. My deepest desire is to runaway with wood elves. I don't really have any kinks or fetishes. Also you've never struck me as a bottom." 

"I usually top but I like being in the opposite role as well. I don't really know what to think of you. Top or bottom?" 

Luke awkwardly coughs. "Uh, well, Corban usually topped but sometimes he'd let me but that was usually when he wanted to ride." Luke furrows his brows. "Now that I think about Corban wasn't very nice to me after the first year." 

Michael kisses Luke's cheek. "I'll make sure our relationship is equal, okay? Lesson 1: When you love someone you listen to them and try to understand what they're saying. I promise to always listen to you and try to understand." 

"Aren't you two adorable?" Ruby sighs. They look up and she's holding two plates of hamburgers with fries. She places a plate in front of each of the boys, gives them another smile, and then leaves. 

Luke admires the food in front of him, noting how the hamburger isn't just a burger and bun. It also has fried onions, pickles, tomato, lettuce, bacon, and cheese. It looks delicious. Luke picks up the burger and bring it to his lips. He takes a huge bite and savors the flavor in his mouth. It's the best burger he's ever eaten. 

"Holy fuck," Luke mutters after placing the burger down. "I think I just tasted heaven." 

Michael laughs. "I told you you'd love it here."

Luke smiles. He's starting to think maybe he loves more than the burger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try super duper hard to get 5 up as soon as possible! 
> 
> comments, kudos, and messages on tumblr (lukesgoggles) are all welcome :)


	5. I love you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke finally gets his shit together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the last chapter and it's ugly and I'm sorry. This was my first muke fic that I wrote like a million years ago and it was on wattpad and I still hate this fic lmao but there's smut!! really really bad smut...I wrote in when it starts and ends so anyone can skip it that wants to :)

Luke doesn't know why he's letting Michael in. Really, he has no idea. He wants to be done with the whole love thing but here he is letting Michael love him. Why does Michael even want to love him? Luke should definitely ask him that the next time they talk. Why is he so confusing? Luke hates himself. This is too much. 

"Calum, I think I'm bipolar," Luke moans from the coach. 

Calum appears from the kitchen entryway with a smile. "Babe, I've always known you're bipolar." 

Luke sits up and stares at him in shock. "What the fuck, Cal? Thanks for having faith in me."

He only laughs and disappears back into the kitchen. Luke hears pots clatter and he assumes Calum's cooking something. Good, Luke's starving. Calum's actually a really good cook too so Luke's kind of excited to see what he makes. Curiosity gets the better of him and he ambles over to the kitchen. 

"Whatcha cooking?" Luke asks, leaning against their floating island. They have a nice apartment, okay? 

"Nothing for you," he answers with a smirk. "How's your book?" 

Luke groans. "Cal, I have nothing to write. Romance is not in me anymore." 

"God, you sound like a whiny author," Calum snickers and Luke glares at him. 

"Whatever. I know I'm whiny. Please, help me. You're really good at helping me. What do I write?" Luke pleas. If he has to get on his knees and beg he will. Maybe. 

"Write about Michael," Calum advises for the fiftieth time. 

Luke groans again. "I don't even know if we're going to work out!" 

"He wants to teach you about love or some shit, right?" Calum asks, turning the stove off to face Luke. 

"Uh yeah, something like that," Luke mumbles, averting his gaze to some dirt under his fingernails. 

"Isn't that like the perfect plot for a story? There's a broken guy who needs some fixing and then this great knight in shining armor comes and patches up the broken guy," Calum says. 

"I hate the savior complex," Luke mumbles. 

"You're impossible!" Calum exclaims. "Get your head out of your ass and write a love story, okay? Your deadline is in two weeks so it's not like you have a lot of time to mope about. I know you can crank out like ten thousand words in a day but it takes a lot out of you. I'm tired of you acting like everyone abandoned you. I'm right here! Michael wants to be there for you too! Stop being stupid," Calum rants and throws down the towel he was holding. 

Luke stares at him in shock as he shakes his head and walks out of the kitchen. Luke supposes he needed the reality check but he wasn't expecting Calum to snap like that. Luke sighs, knowing Calum's right and he goes to his office. Luke locks the door and blasts The Neighbourhood. It's great noveling music. He opens a new Word document and begins typing. 

Luke was sad. Luke was sad and hurt and broken. He didn't know what to do anymore. 

Michael wasn't oblivious to Luke's pain. Michael thought Luke was beautiful so he took Luke out to make him happy...

"Luke! I know you're in there. I can hear The Neighbourhood blasting down the hall. Come out and eat. It's unhealthy to write for twelve hours straight. You need to see the sun. Luke? Are you alive? Oh god, please don't be dead. I'm getting the spare key and coming in," Calum says from the other side of the door. There's a jingling at the knob and then Calum is in the office. 

Luke's slumped against the keyboard and can't be bothered to move. Calum turns the music off and stares at him. 

"Dude, how much did you write?" he asks trying to look at the document on my screen. Luke quickly hits save five times and then closes the document. 

"I don't know like fifty pages," Luke answers and then powers down his computer. 

"Fifty pages? You've never written that much in one sitting before. What are you writing about?" Calum pesters Luke and he groans. 

"Why are you in here?" Luke asks. 

"Oh! Michael called, please call him back. Also, I made food that you need to eat because you're going to die in here one day," Calum replies and picks Luke up. 

Luke giggles as Calum carries him bridal style to the kitchen. "I thought you hated me," Luke mumbles into his chest. 

"I could never hate you, Lukey," he replies and sets Luke on a bar stool. Luke feels like a kid again when his dad had to literally drag him out of bed for school in the morning. Luke's such a shit person. 

"Thank you, Cal," Luke says as Calum hands him a plate of chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. 

He glances at me in confusion. "Thanks for what?" 

"For being my friend and not letting me be the annoying, ungrateful person I can be. Thanks for yelling at me last night. I needed to hear that," Luke replies with a smile. 

"Aw Lukey! You're growing up finally!" he exclaims and crushes Luke in a hug. 

Luke grumbles and pushes him off. "Don't get too excited. I might not call Michael back." 

"No way! If you don't do it then I will. I'm tired of you ruining your life," Calum scoffs. 

Luke laughs. "I was joking, man." 

Calum slaps the back of his head. "Don't joke about that kind of stuff." 

"'M sorry," Luke mumbles around pancake. "I'll call him after I eat and shower," he assures Calum. 

"Good," he replies and sits next to Luke with his own food. They eat together and tease each other like always. Calum makes Luke wash the dishes saying something about how he cooked so he has to clean up. Luke doesn't even feel mad about it because he knows he's been really shitty to Calum lately. Ever since the second date with Michael a week ago, Luke's been extra moody. Calum was being really passive aggressive about it until last night. Luke's glad he finally snapped though. Luke needed the reality check. 

Luke finishes washing the dishes and then heads to his room to shower. Luke warms up the water while he strips off his clothes. He grabs his phone and shuffles his whole music library. Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High by Arctic Monkeys starts playing and Luke sings along as he gets into the shower. Luke lets the water run over his body and his mind wanders to Michael. He can't keep pushing him away and ignoring his feelings. Luke really does like him. He's just so scared of being hurt again. Luke needs to try harder for Michael and himself. If Luke can't get over the fear with Michael then how will he ever get over it? Michael's really trying for him and he needs to return the effort. Luke owes him that at least. 

Luke rinses out his shampoo and quickly washes his body and then shuts the water off. He jumps out and wraps a towel around his waist. He shakes his head like a dog and walks back to his room. 

"What to wear, what to wear," Luke mumbles to himself as he stares at his closet and the few clothes on his floor. After a long debate of two minutes he decides to wear his usual black skinnies, band shirt, and flannel. It's a little cooler out today even though it's like August. 

Luke lies down on his bed and dials Michael's number. It rings five times and then goes to voicemail. Luke sighs and hangs up. He hates leaving voice mails. He never knows what to say and he feels awkward. Hopefully Michael will call him back soon. Luke opens Twitter and mindlessly scroll through it and after a few minutes his phone vibrates and Michael's name appears on the display. He hits accept and puts the phone up to his ear. 

"Mike? Hi," Luke answers, a smile tugging at his lips. 

"Hi, Luke. Why'd you call?" he asks his voice showing no emotion. Ouch. Luke guesses he deserves it though. 

"Calum said you called earlier but I was like in my writing zone and basically dead to the world. I'm sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Did you want to go out again?" Luke says and roll over on his bed to stare at his wall. 

"I'm starting to think you're not good for me, Luke," he sighs. 

Luke winces. He's been so terrible to Michael and everyone. "I'm sorry I'm a bad person. I don't know what's gotten into me these days but I'm really sorry for the way I've been treating you. I sincerely want to try this time. Calum yelled at me and it's really opened my eyes. I'm ready to try. For you. For me. For us. Please, give me a second chance. You don't have to but I like you. I do. I'm scared of it but I don't want to lose you. I promise to be better this time. Lesson 1 is listening and understanding, right? I'm ready to listen and understand. I'm ready now," Luke says and holds his breath while he waits for Michael's response. 

"Okay, I'll give you another chance, but only because you're cute," he replies and I can hear him smiling. 

"Really? Thank you so so so much!" Luke exclaims. "I want to take you out. You always take me out and now I'm going to return the favor. Be ready at 8," Luke says and hangs up. Luke probably should've let him reply but he needs to start planning for tonight. It has to be special. 

"Calum!" Luke shouts as he walks down the hallway to his room. 

"Luke, I swear to god if this is about your hair I am going to murder you!" Calum shouts as he leaves his room. 

"I swear this isn't about my hair. I'm taking Michael on a date tonight and I don't know where to take him," Luke says. 

"You're so dumb," Calum huffs. "He likes music, right? Take him to that place on fifth with the live music. Mike will love it and you guys will have a great time. I promise." 

"Have I ever told you how much I appreciate you?" Luke gushes and embraces Calum. He's the best friend ever. Luke needs to do more for him. 

He shakes his head in amusement. "You never tell me how much you appreciate me." 

"Aw, damn. I need to start doing that," Luke promises. 

"I'll believe it when I see it," Calum laughs. 

"Seriously though, I owe you. Thank you so much. You're the bestest friend ever," Luke says sincerely. 

"Okay, stop being sappy and get your crap together for tonight," Calum says gesturing for me to leave. 

"Okay! Okay!" Luke shouts in defense and walks out of the room. He can't wait to take Mikey out tonight. He wants it to be special to show him how much I appreciate him. He wants Michael to know how much Luke wants to try for him, himself, and them. Michael needs to know Luke's finally serious about something. 

Luke walks to his room and calls the local florist. Luke's basically their best friend since he bought so many flowers with them for you know, Corban. Ugh, Luke can't believe how much time and money he wasted on Corban. He can't believe he cheated. What a dick. 

"Hello this is Starlight Flowers, Amanda speaking, how many I help you?" Amanda speaks into the phone. Luke smiles hearing her voice and quickly speak up. 

"Hey Mandy, it's Luke. I need some flowers but not the usual. Corban and I broke up, it's no big deal, but I found someone else who's way better. He's so sweet to me and I just want to get him something that shows how much I appreciate him, you know?" Luke rambles and lies down on his bed. He doesn't know what it is about Michael that makes him want to give him the world but Luke knows he deserves nothing less than the best. He doesn't deserve Luke. 

"Hmm, can you tell me more about him?" Mandy asks and Luke can hear shuffling. She's probably walking about the greenhouse and tending to the plants. 

"He's a musician, super funny, a little older than me, he acts really confident and badass but I know he's a kitten under it all. Uh, he's just really amazing," Luke finishes with a chuckle. He sounds so lovesick. Luke's actually feeling pretty mushy. Michael better watch out. 

"Do you know his favorite color?" she asks.

"It's purple," Luke answers quickly remembering their date awhile ago. Luke smiles at the memory. Why did he ever think pushing Michael away was a good idea? 

"I'll see what I can do. When do you need the flowers?" Mandy asks. 

"If you could get them to me in the next two hours that'd be great," Luke replies, hoping that doesn't seem too demanding. Luke really appreciates all the help that Mandy's given him over the years and he doesn't want her to ever feel like Luke thinks he's above her or anything. Luke sees her as his friend, if he's being honest. 

She chuckles. "That's plenty enough time. I can be done in less than forty five minutes." 

"That's amazing! Thank you so much! You know I love you, right?" Luke grins. 

"Of course, Luke," she replies and he can hear her eye roll.

"I'll talk to you soon. Thank you again. It really means a lot," Luke says. 

"It's really not problem. It's even on the house. See you soon," Mandy says and hangs up. 

Flowers are done. Luke doesn't think he needs to make reservations at the restaurant but he'll call ahead just in case. Luke googles the number and calls it. A man answers and tells him that walk-ins are welcome, but since it's Friday night a reservation is recommended. Luke decides to make a reservation and then thanks the man. 

Flowers, check. Reservation, check. Luke guesses he should dress up now. He ignores the clothes on his floor and instead approaches his where he keeps his nicer clothes. He rifles through the few dress shirts he owns before deciding on just wearing a white button up. Maybe he'll add a tie, dunno yet. He switches out the black skinnies he was wearing that have holes in them for a pair that doesn't have holes. He also switches out his Vans for a pair of dress shoes he bought for a wedding awhile ago. He decides he should probably text Michael to dress nice too so he doesn't feel out of place. The place they're going to is a classier joint but it definitely attracts a younger crowd and can be laid back. Luke thinks Mikey and him should dress up tonight. 

**To Mikey boo:** wear something nice ;)   
**From Mikey boo:** how nice?  
 **To Mikey boo:** not like wedding nice but more meeting the family nice  
 **To Mikey boo:** ur not meeting the fam  
 **From Mikey boo:** ok...

Luke hears a knock at the door so he locks his phone and goes to answer it. It's probably Mandy with the flowers. Luke peers through the little peek hole and sees Mandy with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. He opens the door with a smile. 

"Hey Mandy," Luke greets. 

"Hey Luke, I got your flowers," she replies and hands him the bouquet. 

"Thank you so much. I feel like I don't tell you that enough but seriously thank you," Luke says taking the flowers from her. 

"It's no problem, Luke. I know you're thankful. So, how do you feel about this guy? Is he going to be the one?" she asks. 

"I really _really_ like him. He treats me very well and is very considerate of my feelings. He listens to me and wants to spend time with me. I can't believe I didn't notice how little attention Corban gave me. I don't know if Michael's, you know _the one_ , but if I stop being a dick I hope we last for awhile," Luke answers truthfully. 

"That's good, Luke. He sounds like a good man. Don't let him slip away. I'll punch you if you do," she says semi-seriously. 

"You and Cal," Luke replies, laughing. Luke knows Calum wants Michael and him to work. Calum very much approves of Michael. 

"Just looking out for you, kid," she says. 

"Yeah, okay. I'll see you around," Luke says. 

"Yeah, I'll see you, bye Luke. Have fun on your date!" she says, turns and then walks down the hall. 

Luke glances at the clock and sees that he needs to head over to Michael's now or he'll be late. Luke double checks that he has his wallet, keys and flowers. Then he shouts to Calum, "I'm leaving! I'll see you later!" 

"I don't want to see you until tomorrow!" he shouts back and Luke tries not to blush. He feels 17 all over again. 

Luke chooses not to reply to Calum's remark as he rushes out of the apartment and to the underground garage. He quickly walks to his car and starts it up. He blasts the radio loud as can as he drives out of the garage and towards Michael's artist loft. The drive feels like it takes forever but he finally pulls up in front of Michael's building. He walks up the familiar stairs and down the familiar hallway. He stops at Michael's door and takes a deep breath in an attempt to steady his hands and breathing. After scolding himself for acting 17 and being ridiculous, he finally raises his hand to knock on the heavy wooden door. He has the flowers slightly behind his back so they can be a sort of surprise. 

Michael opens the door a moment later and Luke stops breathing. Michael looks gorgeous. He looks more gorgeous than the first time they met and Luke thought he looked pretty damn gorgeous then. He's wearing the same thing as Luke -- white button up and black skinnies -- but he added a leather jacket and it's making Luke forget his name. 

"Uh, hi," Luke coughs. 

"Did you bring me flowers?" Michael asks, leaning to see the bouquet in Luke's hand. 

Luke straightens up and offers him the flowers. "Yes! Yes, I brought you flowers. Do you like them?" 

He takes them from Luke and examines them before replying, "Lukey, I love them." 

_Don't blush, don't blush. Fuck you, stop blushing_. Luke awkwardly smiles at Michael as he disappears into his apartment to put the flowers in water. He comes back a minute later with a smile and steps into the hallway, locking the door behind him. 

"Where are we going?" he asks. "I assume someplace nice since we dressed up, kind of." 

"It's a secret," Luke answers and kisses Michael's cheek. Luke laces their fingers together as they walk back downstairs to his car. He really loves little small gestures of affection with Michael. He feels like they mean more somehow and Michael means a lot to him. 

At Luke's car he opens Michael's door for him and he snorts at Luke but he catches him blush as well. Luke's heart flutters a little because even if Michael's hotter than hell he's also cute as fuck. 

Luke rushes to his side and starts driving towards the cafe. He holds Michael's hand on the console the whole way while they scream along to the Green Day cd playing. It feels perfect. They could do this all night as far as Luke cares. 

They arrive at the cafe and Michael stares at Luke in surprise. He can tell Michael's excited to be here as well though. They walk in and Luke tells the guy about their reservation and he takes them to a table close to the stage. 

After the waiter leaves, Michael leans forward and excitedly says, "How'd you know I love this place? I used to play gigs here all the time." 

Luke shrugs. "I didn't know about you playing gigs here, but I thought you'd love it being all musical and stuff." 

He laughs. "You're a strange one, Hemmings." 

"But you love me," Luke teases back. 

Michael looks down at the table, "Yeah, _I do_."

"Well, I love you too," Luke replies instantly. He doesn't want to die and have Michael think he never loved him. Luke does love him. Luke loves Michael Clifford. 

He looks up at Luke to judge how sincere he is and Luke hopes he looks my-grandma-just-died sincere because this is serious and Michael needs to know this information. 

"Michael, I love you," Luke says again. 

"Is this some kind of joke?" he asks, looking around. "Is someone going to tell me I got punk'd? Luke, this isn't funny." 

"Michael, stop. I'm being serious. I love you. I love you so much I think I might explode. This is cheesy but I think I've always loved you, at least since we met. It scared me that love could happen that fast. I was confused and a jerk. I was so mean to you and I hate myself for it. I figured out a lot of stuff recently and I know that I love you. I don't want to die and for you to never know that. I don't want you to die and think no one ever loved you because I do. I love you." 

There's a silence as Michael absorbs everything Luke said. Luke meant every word and he hopes Michael believes him. Luke _needs_ him to believe him. 

"That was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me," he finally says. 

Luke smiles at him. "You deserve only the most beautiful of words," he replies. 

Michael blushes. "Shut up." 

"'M kind of sorry I brought up all the heavy stuff so early," Luke apologizes.

Michael shrugs. "It's okay. It needed to be discussed. By the way, love you too." 

Luke practically melts when Michael says he loves him. Luke's known Michael loved him for awhile, but it's different now that he knows he can return the feelings. Everything's different now in a good way and Michael looks so cute sitting across from Luke, drumming his fingers to the music. 

"Would it be weird if we already left?" Luke asks. 

Michael chuckles. "No, Luke, it wouldn't be."

Luke smiles. "Good. Let's go." 

Luke grabs Michael's hand and drags him out of the restaurant. Luke dropped a ten on the table first though because he used to be a waiter once and knows how rough it can be. 

When they get to Luke's car he pushes Michael against his door and attach his lips to Michael's. It's a bit rushed and sloppy, but neither of them seem to care. Luke moves his lips down Michael's neck and sucks harshly by his collarbone. 

"Shit, Luke. Can't we get to my place first?" he asks. 

Luke groans, but pulls away. He gives Michael a short kiss and then opens his door. 

Michael shakes his head. "Always the gentleman, I see," he says as he sits down. 

Luke rolls his eyes and closes Michael's door before rushing to his side. Luke drives as fast as he can back to Michael's place and almost forgets to lock the doors when they arrive. Michael laughs at Luke's eagerness and he tries glare at him but it doesn't work. He's too cute. Luke can't be mad at him. 

Once at Michael's door, Luke wildly gestures for him to unlock it and Michael continues to laugh as he pushes his key in and turns it. Luke swings the door open and pulls Michael in. Luke kicks the door shut and then pushes Michael against it. He stops laughing. Luke smirks. 

(smut coming your way)

Luke places one arm on the door by Michael's head and the other holds his waist. Luke leans in by his ear and whispers, "Who's laughing now?" 

He shudders and whimpers, "Luke, please do something." 

Luke chuckles. "Already so needy," he mumbles. "Don't worry. I'm going to take care of you, baby. I'm going to show you how much I love you," Luke promises moving to kiss Michael's neck. He doesn't know how they went from fluffy to smutty to making love, but he doesn't care. All he cares about is _MichaelMichaelMichael_. 

"I love your lips," Luke whispers and kisses Michael. "I love your face," he continues as he leaves kisses all over Michael's face. "And I love your hands," he finishes, and then pulls Michael's hand to his mouth and he kisses the back of it. "Mikey, where's your room? I don't want to finish this here." 

Michael smiles and pulls Luke to his room. Luke glances over it before he leads Michael to the bed and lies him down. Luke unbuttons Michael's shirt and he shrugs it off. 

"You're so beautiful," Luke murmurs and kisses down Michael's chest. He stops when he gets to the top of Michael's pants and he squirms. 

"Please," he groans. 

"Okay, okay," Luke smiles and pulls down Michael's pants. Luke palms him through his boxers as he leans up to kiss him deeply. 

"Too many clothes," he mumbles against Luke's lips and starts unbuttoning his shirt. Luke pulls away, takes off his shirt and then reattaches their lips. "I wanna see you," Michael whines and pushes against Luke's chest. 

Luke stops rubbing Michael and sits back so he's straddling him. His eyes look over Luke's body and it takes everything in Luke to not cross his arms or try to distract him from seeing him. 

"You're so pretty, Lukey," he whispers and kisses Luke's fingers. 

"I love you," Luke says and leans forward to connect their lips. 

"I love you too," he mumbles and tangles his fingers in Luke's hair. They make out for a few minutes, their crotches grinding until Michael whines and pushes Luke off. "As much as I love how sweet this is, I'd like to hurry things up." 

Luke smiles at him and gets off to take his jeans and boxers off. Luke pulls Michael's boxers off as well and then asks, "Lube and condoms?" 

Michael gestures towards his nightstand and Luke finds them in a drawer. 

"I'll try to go fast," Luke mumbles as he dribbles lube onto a couple fingers. 

It's only a few minutes before Michael is a moaning mess and Luke has three fingers knuckle deep in him. Luke kisses his chest and asks him if he's ready. 

"Yesyesyes," he answers and Luke gently takes his fingers out. He rolls on a condom and uses a generous amount of lube. It's better to have too much than not enough, right? 

Luke laces their hands together and then slowly pushes into Michael. He forgets to relax at first so Luke stops and kisses his neck while he adjusts. Eventually Luke can feel him begin to relax so he pushes in slowly until he bottoms out. It takes everything in him not to move right away. He can tell Michael hasn't bottomed in awhile. 

"Tell me when you're ready," Luke mutters and then kisses Michael gently. 

"Move, Luke, please," he finally whispers. Luke rocks his hips and then starts thrusting slowly. 

"Mikey, you're so beautiful. I love you so much," he mumbles.

"Love you too. Faster, please," Michael replies totally out of it. 

Luke smiles and kisses him before picking up the speed. He move his hand that isn't holding Michael's to his cock to jerk him off to the same speed as his thrusts. 

"C-close," he mutters. 

"Me too," Luke replies. His grip on Michael's cock tightens just a little and then he's painting both of their stomach's in white. 

"IloveyouIloveyou," Luke gasps as he fills the condom. He slowly pulls out after riding through both of their orgasms, ties the condom and throws it away. He kisses Michael's cheek and then goes to his bathroom to get a wet towel. Luke comes back and Michael looks half asleep on the bed. He kind of reminds Luke of a kitten. Luke smiles at him fondly as he cleans him up. 

(end smut) 

Luke tosses the towel somewhere on the floor and then joins Michael on the bed. Luke pulls him onto his chest and kisses his forehead. 

"I love you," he whispers. He can't stop saying it now. He wants Michael to always know he loves him. 

"Love you too," he says sleepily. 

They fall asleep entangled in each other and Luke knows he wouldn't want it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yep so this is over...
> 
> come talk to me on tumblr!! 
> 
> lukesgoggles 
> 
> I love all of you and thank you for reading this fic :)


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